Retcon speculation
Retcon is short for "'ret'roactive 'con'tinuity", and describes something that is altered in the official lore of a series of works of fiction. These changes can either be: *additional backstory to explain and expand upon present circumstances, or *historical facts which are rewritten and are meant to be taken as having always been that way. A huge portion of the lore of the Warcraft universe would fall under the first meaning, since it was all developed around a relatively simple war between orcs and humans. This article deals with the second meaning of retcon, a retroactive change in the history or backstory. There have been several such revisions in Warcraft series. Some apparent outdated lore actually are written as Flavor Lore and were not necessarily intended to be what actually occured, but rather just competing beliefs held by inhabitants of the world of Azeroth. =People and Places= Garona's Parentage In the Warcraft: Orcs & Humans manual and The Last Guardian, Garona describes herself as being half orc and half human. According to the RPG, Half-Orc always refers to orc/human hybrids. Blizzard Community Manager Caydiem described Garona as being half orc and half draenei. Lore-master Chris Metzen has chosen to make no comment on the issue as of yet. The Mother of Cenarius The War of the Ancients Trilogy describes Ysera as the mother of Cenarius, while other sources in the World of Warcraft, such as tauren mythology, suggest that Elune was his mother. This was later explained by the author of the trilogy, Richard A. Knaak: Elune birthed Cenarius, but gave him up to Malorne because Cenarius was more a creature of the mortal world and could not be with her. Malorne, who had relations with both Elune and Ysera, knew that he could not properly care for his son, but Ysera's love was so great for Malorne that she took Cenarius as her own. Hence being his mother (or adoptive mother). :-Source High elven druids The Runestone at Caer Darrow was described in the Warcraft II manual as being crafted by elven druids. As the background of the high elf race was further developed in Warcraft III, they were depicted as a race dedicated to the free use of arcane magic. The principles of druidism would be antithetical to the majority of high elves, and there was no indication of any renegade sects that opposed the prevailing philosophy. Furthermore, the More Magic & Mayhem RPG implies that at the time the book takes place (not long after the events of Lands of Conflict), runic magic is usually practiced by the tauren and the dwarves, and only rarely by other races in the world. Gnomes and humans, are cited as somewhat likely to use rune magic, usually taught to them by dwarves, and some Forsaken learned the art of runic inscription through tauren runemasters. It is possible that high elves would have learned runic magic from the Wildhammer Dwarves. The book does imply that runic magic has some ties to druidic magic. Additionally, the RPG implies that before and up to the end of the Third War, the high elves were more open to other philosophies and religions as alternate sources of power, especially the Holy Light. This explains the existance of high elven priests in Warcraft III. According to the books, it wasn't until after the Third War that most began to leave the other religions, as they began to lose focus because of withdrawal symptoms from their magic addiction. It is possible that some high elves may have been open to druidic or runic magic in the ancient past when the Runestones were created, as a means of tapping into natural energy sources of arcane magic (see ley lines), much like how some high elves dabbled with divine magic before the Third War. The Holy Light In the description of Warcraft I units, the Clerics of Northshire are described as worshippers of God. Their belief system was later revised to the non-theistic philosophy of the Holy Light. Similarly, the realm from which demons are summoned was referred to as Hell, Hades and the underworld, as opposed to the Twisting Nether. However, in Manual of Monsters there are a few refrences to angelic beings, Hopes, and Celestials, who are tied to the Holy Light or heavenly realms, that may be emissaries of some God-like diety. This may have been the author's way of trying to salvage the old material. Hell In Warcraft I and to a lesser extend Warcraft II, the terms "hell", "Hades", and "the underworld" are used in a very traditional sense. This concept was later expanded into the Twisting Nether, an interdimensional demonic realm. The more traditional terms are used as synonyms for the Twisting Nether. Sometimes the words show up in the names of characters as well, for example, Grom Hellscream. Sylvanas Windrunner tells Prince Arthas to, "Give my regards to hell." Even Lord of the Clans made refrences to the word "Hell": If a warlock was to summon hell's flames against an enemy, they would be burned to death...With hell's fire, you make a bargain. It costs a little of yourself. -Grom Hellscream in Lord of the Clans. In World of Warcraft, Caelestrasz states; "Even if you somehow manage to free us without defeating C'Thun, we would focus all our powers to see the beast banished back to the hell from whence it came - AT ANY COST." Additionaly a sort of underworld, known as the Dark Below is described in article in the "Manual of Monsters'' which states it is a place where certain demon races are said to have originated from. There are people who worship the Dark Below (which sounds quite similar to descriptions of orcs in the Warcraft I manual). Priests from a certain cult who worship beings from Dark Below are at odds with Lich King's Necromancers. Surprisingly even though there isn't much direct info about him, Lucifer is said to be one of the Burning Legion's minions in the Manual of Monsters. Rend and Maim Rend and Maim, the sons of Blackhand the Destroyer, led the Blacktooth Grin clan during the Second War, which was one of the clans placed in the internment camps. They next appeared without mention during the Alliance campaign of Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, inexplicably on Draenor, in the service of Magetheridon. Rend appears in a prominent role as head of the Blackrock clan in World of Warcraft. Given the inconsequential nature of their appearance in the Frozen Throne, it is safe to assume that the World of Warcraft account is the current official one. The Azerothian Blood Elves During the Alliance campaign of Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, no signs are shown of high elves or blood elves other than those under Kael'thas, and it is implied that Kael's regiment are the last survivors from the assault on Quel'Thalas by the Scourge, except for a few scattered other parts of the world. The blood elves that are shown in the game travel to Outland with Kael'thas in the secret mission, "The Crossing." It seems at the end of Frozen Throne that all blood elves have been saved from execution at the hands of Garithos. However, the previews for the Burning Crusade expansion have revealed that a large group of blood elves remained on Azeroth during their race's escape, and they will be making their home in a reclaimed Silvermoon and allying with the Horde. This raises unresolved questions as to the whereabouts of these particular elves during the events of The Frozen Throne, and how they were able to reclaim their city, which resides behind the Scourge's front lines. It is also not explained why the Horde would want to ally themselves with any of Illidan's followers, since he serves the Burning Legion, but there is no proof that either the Horde or the Forsaken even know of Illidan's existence, so that may be explaination enough. RPG Mistakes Hellscream's Death In the World of Warcraft RPG, due some confusion from the authors, the book states that Thrall killed Grom Hellscream, when he infact died from wounds inflicted by Mannoroth. According to the editors this was due to a misunderstanding on the part of one of the authors who read a manuscript of the events of Warcraft III's campaign and thought Grom died by the hands of the Horde, as he is fought as an enemy in one of the missions in the last orc missions in Warcraft III. As a retcon to explain the error in the book, the editor has said to think of that depiction as coming from some human's viewpoint, and that the person who wrote it was mistaken. In which case the in-universe author perhaps thought they saw Grom die by Thrall's hand and not by the hand of the demon. Manoroth's Killer Additionally the book states that Mannoroth was killed by Illidan, when infact he was killed by Grom Hellscream. The editor has stated that this was a mix-up between the names of Mannoroth and Magtheridon, and that all refrences to Mannoroth in those instances should be replaced with Magtheridon. However the death of Magtheridon may also revised in the future, as there are rumors that Magtheridon is currently being held in Hellfire Citadel. =Events= Both Warcraft I and Warcraft II featured two separate storylines, one for each faction's campaign. While these were obviously never intended to both form part of a comprehensive lore, elements from each storyline were taken and included in the backstory for the next game in the series. Warcraft III featured campaigns with storylines which formed part of a cohesive whole. Warcraft I Warcraft I featured many levels which are best described as generic battles whose outcome is of no ultimate importance, given that the final outcome of the First War was victory for the Horde and the complete destruction of Stormwind. Both campaigns, however, contained several important plot points that became part of the lore: *Stormwind Keep, Northshire Abbey, and all the human towns of the kingdom, including Goldshire, Moonbrook, Sunnyglade, and Grand Hamlet, were destroyed (orc campaign). *Blackhand was overthrown as warchief (orc campaign). *Medivh was killed in his tower by a raiding party (human campaign). *King Llane was assassinated by Garona (human campaign). Some elements of the game's plotlines were expressly left out of the ultimate account of the war: *King Llane was not killed at the fall of Stormwind by the orc warchief (orc campaign). *The humans did not succeed in destroying Blackrock Spire (human campaign). *The commander of the human armies did not succeed Llane as king (human campaign). Other events are indeterminate, not conflicting with any other accounts, but also not being referred to again: *The killing of Blackhand's daughter Griselda in the Deadmines (orc campaign). *The rescue of Lothar from a 20-month imprisonment in the Deadmines (human campgain). *The destruction of the orc outpost of Kyross in the Swamp of Sorrows (human campaign). *The destruction of the Temple of the Damned in the Black Morass (human campaign). *The destruction of Rockard and Stonard (human campaign). Warcraft II Like its predecessor, Warcraft II featured two campaigns with contradictory storylines. The ultimate account of the war most closely followed the Alliance campaign, with the nearly complete defeat of the Horde in the Eastern Kingdoms: *The high elves joined the Alliance following an attack on their archers passing through Tarren Mill (human campaign). *The Horde was driven from the Hillsbrad region and Khaz Modan *The nation of Alterac betrayed the Alliance of Lordaeron and was destroyed (human campaign). *The Runestone at Caer Darrow was captured by the Horde and used to create the ogre magi (orc campaign). *Gul'dan betrayed Orgrim Doomhammer and withdrew his forces in order to seek out the Tomb of Sargeras (orc campaign). *Dalaran was razed by the Horde (orc campaign). *The Alliance forces defeated the Horde at Blackrock Spire, then recaptured and attempted to destroy the Dark Portal (human campaign). Events which occurred in one of the Warcraft II campaigns, but which did not ultimately form part of the lore, include: *Gul'dan was killed by Doomhammer's forces at the Tomb of Sargeras in Warcraft II (orc campaign). In The Frozen Throne, however, we are told that he was instead killed by the demons he unwittingly set free while searching the tomb. *Lordaeron did not fall to the Horde (orc campaign). Other events are indeterminate, not conflicting with any other accounts, but also not being referred to again: *The razing of Stratholme and Tyr's Hand by the Horde. The War of the Ancients The sequence of events during the War of the Ancients was altered through the time-travelling plot of the War of the Ancients Trilogy, so that the events occurred as outlined in War of the Ancients (Alternate History). This does not really qualify as a retcon, however, since everything that occurred represented new events within the context of the world of Azeroth. The original timeline still exists, in some sense, within the lore of the game. =Names and Spellings= * King Varian Wrynn's name was initially Varien, as written in the Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal manual. * In Warcraft I: **Blackrock Spire was Black Rock Spire, **the Redridge Mountains were the Red Ridge Mountains, **the Deadmines were the Dead Mines **the Swamp of Sorrows was the Swamps of Sorrow. It was also known as Swamp of Sorrows in Warcraft: Orcs & Human's manual. Azeroth The name Azeroth from Warcraft I to Warcraft III referred to the kingdom which the orcs first invaded, now named Stormwind, it was also a much larger kingdom that covered most of the southern continent south of Khaz Modan. In early phases of World of Warcraft, Azeroth was used as the name of the entire continent now referred to as the Eastern Kingdoms. Currently, Azeroth is used as the name of the world in which the majority of the Warcraft series is set. It also refers to the southern sub-continent in Eastern Kingdoms which Stormwind and all southern zones occupy. It should be noted however that the RPG books have clarified things a bit more. The Eastern Kingdoms are actually split into several sub-continents. Azeroth is the southern continent just below the continent of Khaz Modan, Lordaeron is the nothern most continent just above Khaz Modan. This is has not changed at all and is listed in both Lands of Conflict, and Lands of Mystery. Wrynn Wrynn was initially given as the single name of the king of Stormwind at the time of orcish invasion, King Wrynn III, with his son being called King Llane. Wrynn was later used as the family name of the Stormwind royal line, being applied as Llane's surname, as well as that of his son and grandson. Category:Lore Category:Game Terms Category:Glossary